The son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez has been released from prison after serving six years in connection with the deadly stabbing of a San Diego Mesa College student.

Esteban Nunez was released to parole supervision Sunday morning. He’s required to live in Sacramento County and will be on parole for the next three years.

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Nunez was sentenced to 16 years after he and co-defendant Ryan Jett pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and assault in the death of unarmed student Luis Santos in 2008.

His sentence was more than cut in half by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on his last day in office. His father, Fabian Nunez, was Assembly Speaker while Schwarzenegger was in office.

Santos' family sued in hopes of getting the governor's action overturned, but lost in court.

"Too bad that my child is buried underground and this guy gets to go out and celebrate," said Luis’ mother, Kathy Santos.

Santo's mom is doubtful that Nunez’s time in prison meant anything.

"He has been enabled his whole life. He got off on murder through the ‘good old boy’ network. Why would he change," said Santos.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation in 2011, making commutation more transparent. Fred Santos says it's a start, but not enough.

"It doesn't prevent another governor from doing another political friend a favor. What it does is prevent them from doing this in secret, which is what happened. And we're not contesting Gov. Schwarzenegger's right to commute. We're only disappointed that we were not given a chance to convince him otherwise, not that he would ever listen to what we have to say," said Santos.

The Nunez family released the following statement Sunday night:

"We continue to grieve over the losses related to our son's involvement in this tragic incident and pray daily for God's healing grace. Our son has paid his debt to society and will continue to meet all legal and financial obligations to the victim's family as agreed. He is committed to continuing the work of healing, self-reflection, and spiritual growth. We respectfully request our privacy at this time."